PAGE CONTENT
Account Lifecycle
Curious about the handling of @maine.edu accounts after a student leaves or an employee retires? Well, even if you’re not, you’re about to learn! Student accounts are kept active for five years after the date they last took classes, though most licensed software access ends earlier. Employee accounts are active while employed at the University, and then for four weeks after the person’s separation from their University position. External POI accounts are active until a request to deprovision the account has been submitted, or 4 weeks after the termination date is passed – whichever comes first. Benefits-eligible retirees and those with emeritus status are the only folks who can have a “permanent” @maine.edu email, as long as they keep up with password changes; they may request to retain their accounts after retirement if they choose. For more information, you can visit this webpage: Account Lifecycle.
MFA PSA
MFA, short for Multi-Factor Authentication, is now officially out of pilot, meaning it’s generally available to most faculty and staff, as well as some students who access specific services that require MFA. Put simply, MFA adds an extra step to a few initial logins each day, requiring you to authenticate using a secondary device to log in fully. That way, even if someone were to steal your password, if they tried to log in, you would receive a notification on your secondary device and could decline the login! For more information, you can visit IT’s help article here: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) – General Information.
Zoom Backgrounds
We’re sure you’ve heard about Zoom virtual backgrounds, or at least seen some coworkers using them, but do you know how to set your own? It’s easy! First, navigate to the Zoom desktop client, click the cog wheel icon in the upper right corner, and go down to Background & Effects. You can also set up a background for just one meeting while in the actual Zoom. Click the caret symbol near Stop/Start Video (^) and select “Choose Virtual Background.” Now you’re Zooming! For a full walkthrough, visit Zoom’s website here: Changing your Virtual Background Image.
(Content for this page was provided by Caneel Cheskin, IT Specialist CL2 and Andy Moody, Manager of Campus Networking)